Bombings in the Baghdad area have killed at least 20 people.
In the deadliest attack on November 1, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged truck at the checkpoint leading to southern Baghdad, killing at least 20 people and wounding at least 53.
Another explosives-rigged vehicle detonated on Baghdad's Palestine Street near a tent serving refreshments to Shi'ite pilgrims preparing to travel to the shrine city of Karbala for Ashura commemorations, which peak on November 4.
Separately, the UN says that violence in Iraq killed at least 1,273 people during October.
According to the report issued November 1 by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), at least 856 civilians and 417 security forces members were killed and more than 2,000 were injured.
The UNAMI casualty figures exclude Anbar Province.
